Pierce Motorsports

4/9/08

The 2008 season is quickly approaching. The car was sent down to Owego, NY last month for a brand new body. Tony Hanbury and crew did an awesome job on the body.

Race plans as of now, have us racing at Dunn Tire Raceway Park. We will also catch a few races here and there as our schedule allows.

Watch for pics of our new 2008 scheme.

9/16/07
PIERCE, HERBERT AND GROM CLINCH 2007 TRACK TITLES
In the SST Modifieds, Jim Pierce began the day with a 48-point lead over Kevin Lewis for the track title. Pierce expanded that lead after winning his heat race and he started on the pole for the 35-lap feature.
The Pierce championship freight train looked like it was going to roll on to the feature win, but trouble struck with just five laps to go. After leading the first 30 laps virtually uncontested, the motor in Pierce’s car expired with a cloud of smoke. Pierce was forced to watch the final five laps from the infield knowing he was going to finish 13th and that he gave Kevin Lewis an opportunity to steal the championship.
Lewis needed to win the race to pull off what would have been one of the biggest upsets in track history. He moved up to third after Pierce dropped out and had to pass Wayne Lent and Bob Reis to get the win. He was unable to improve his position, however, as Lent drove on to his first win of the year the Perry Bullring. Lewis had to settle for third and finished came up 11 points short of catching Pierce.

The championship is the first ever of Pierce’s career, as he becomes the fourth different SST champion in the last four years at WCIS.

9/13/07
Jim Pierce featured in the Buffalo News

Article by Larry Ott
Pierce must be a two-timer to win title;

For over a year local racing fans have known Wheatfield’s Jim Pierce and his No. 26 Troyer SST Sportsman car as the man and machine that flew out of the park last season at Holland NASCAR Motorsports Complex.

Pierce enters the season finale Sunday at Wyoming County International Speedway leading Kevin Lewis by 47 points. If Pierce holds on, he will forge a new identity as a determined champion who proved his mettle by persevering and capping his year with a hard-fought comeback.

He will need to double his effort to lock down the title as two SST races will be run Sunday due to recent rain problems at WCIS. Both features carry full season points.

“It will be definitely different this coming Sunday as most times you only have to survive one race to clinch the championship but I will have to survive two races,” said Pierce, 36, who has gathered an impressive five wins at WCIS this year.

“I will just race this Sunday as I have all year. I’m not points racing but going for the wins and if I can win, the rest will take care of itself.”

In May 2006, Pierce made contact with Randy Jazembak in the season opener at Holland and his car was launched over the wall. It was heavily damaged but Pierce was not injured.
“There was no doubt that I wanted to race again and it took all last summer as time and money allowed to get the car back together,” recalled Pierce. “I’ve got to thank Jim Flanigan and John Barber who helped me. I finally got back on the track for the last race of 2006 at Wyoming County and I finished fourth.”

Pierce began his driving career in 2000, when he and Flanigan converted Flanigan’s Modified car into a SST type racer. In 2003, Pierce obtained his current machine. In 2004 he won a pair of races at Lancaster and two at Lake Erie and the following campaign had one win each at WCIS and Holland.

“The biggest difference between this year and the last was that I changed engine manufacturers this season,” Pierce said. “I now run BRK Race Engines and they have really stepped up their program.”

Pierce will also compete in the Race of Champions at Oswego Speedway, the US Open at Lancaster Raceway Park and the SST Tour 75 at WCIS before the season ends.

“The competition at Wyoming County is tough when you have to race against Kirk Rutherford, Erick Rudolph and Kevin Lewis and some others. It’s fun racing at Wyoming County. To get the championship after what we went through last year will really make for something different for the fans to remember us by now.”

8/11/07
Mike Bliss of Warsaw won the 30-lap SST Modified feature for his first ever win on asphalt at WCIS. Bliss started on the outside of the front as he led the field to the initial green flag along with pole sitter Dick Kluth. Bliss grabbed the early lead from Kluth before opening up a several car-length lead over Kluth.A pair of cautions of lap 13 slowed the pace of the race down dramatically. The first stoppage was for rookie Joe Evans when he slowed just off the backstretch. The field was taking the green flag on the ensuing restart when trouble struck again. Jim Love and Richard Thomas tangled while getting up to speed with Thomas's right front taking a hard hit into the frontstretch wall. He was able to walk away but his car took some serious damage. Bliss continued to lead when the race finally got back under green flag conditions. Dick Kluth continued to follow him from the second spot, but Bliss was able to stretch out his margin as the race wore on.
A pair of caution periods inside the final laps kept the race in doubt for some. Ed Weber slowed on lap 25 to bring out the first yellow flag, then on lap 28 the engine in Jim Pierce's car expired with a plume of smoke to bring the points leader's night to an end two laps shy of the finish.
The two final restart did not phase Bliss as he was able to get the jump each time and hold on for his first win at the Perry Bullring since it was covered with dirt. Kluth finished second for his best run of the season. Bill Mislin was pressuring hard to get inside the top two, but had to settle for third. Jim Love and Kevin Lewis rounded out the top five.
8/5/07
In the SST Modifieds Jim Pierce overcame an early race incident to win his fifth race of the season. Pierce was involved in one of two mishaps that took place on just the second lap of the 30-lap feature. The first was just a simple spin by Dick Kluth but the second was a little more serious. On the restart, Pierce and Jim Love tangled as the field got up to speed in turn two. As those two spun, Bill Mislin and Richard Thomas where left with nowhere to go and they piled into them. Both Mislin and Thomas were knocked out of the race due to the damage suffered in the wreck.
The race finally got under as Kevin Lewis emerged from his fifth starting spot to take the led from Mike Bliss on lap two. Lewis and Bliss dominated the first half of the race as they pulled away from the pack.Lewis had his hands full as the car developed a terrible push which allowed Bliss to stay on his back bumper.
By the time the yellow flag came out again on lap 16, Jim Pierce had worked his way back to the third spot. It took him five more laps to get by Bliss for second. The yellow flag flew again on lap 24 as Joe Evans spun out, which set up a six lap dash for Lewis and Pierce
Pierce made his move just after the race restarted as he went around the outside of Lewis to take the lead with just five laps to go. Once he got out in front he pulled away for his fifth win of the season.

7/22/07
There sometimes in racing when you need to be good, and there are just sometimes when all you need is a little luck or good timing. Bill Mislin needed the latter on Sunday afternoon to win his fourth SST Modified feature of the season at Wyoming County International Speedway. Mislin was running third behind Jim Pierce and Kirk Rutherford on the final lap when the top two made contact in turn three and spun out. This handed Mislin first place for a final green-white-checkered run to the finish. He was able to hang on despite losing a cylinder earlier in the race to win his third-straight feature at the Perry Bullring. In victory lane Mislin was surprised as anyone about his good fortune. He even added to his good luck as one of his tires went flat during the post-race celebration. Dick Kluth was credited with second, which equals his best run of the season. Mike Bliss finished third after starting on the pole. Jim Love finished fourth. Pierce recovered from the last lap spin to finish fifth.

7/21/07
A tough day for Jim as he took the crew to Lancaster Speedway for the 75 lap main event. During the practice sessions, the steering broke and after timely repairs, Jim missed the rest of the days practice. About 25 laps into the feature the #26 car developed a bad vibration and Jim was forced to park the car and earn his worst finish (14th), so far in the 2007 season. The crew took the car back to shop and made repairs for next day points race at WCIS.

7/15/07
Jim was working his way through the pack with the #12 of Erick Rudolph hard on his tail, when Erick spun the #26 of Jim Pierce coming out of turn 4. Jim could only make his back to 5th when the checkers flew.

7/13/07
At the start of the race a handful of drivers were bit the bad luck that comes with racing on Friday the 13th. On the opening, lap pole sitter Mike Bliss lost control going into turn three and spun in front of the entire field. Several drivers were left with nowhere to go as they piled into each other. Ed Weber, Ken Gilbert, Mike VerWeire and Bliss all suffered damage that knocked them out of the race before they even completed lap one.
Once the track was clear the race restarted with Richard Thomas and Bill Mislin on the front row. Mislin got the jump on Thomas at the drop of the green as he took the lead from the outside of the front row followed by Kevin Lewis.
Lewis did not waste time in trying challenge Mislin for the lead. On lap three, Lewis dove under Mislin going into turn three to take the top spot away.
Lewis led for the next 20 laps, but he could not pull away from Mislin. Mislin never fell more than a few car lengths behind Lewis as he waited to make his move. With seven laps to go he ducked under Lewis in turn one to regain first.
By this time Jim Pierce had joined the lead battle and he moved into second place just after Mislin moved back out in front. Pierce chased down Mislin and pressured him for first as the race got inside the final five laps. He tried make an outside pass with about three laps to go, but Mislin took him right to the frontstretch wall to block the pass.
Mislin was able to hang on for his second checkered flag of the season. Lewis got second back from Pierce to equal his career best. Pierce, Richard Thomas and Dick Kluth rounded out the top five.

Source: Dave Buchanan/WCIS PR